Foreigners under U.S. Occupation in the Caribbean

• Published in: International history review Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 100 - 120
• Main Author: McPherson, Alan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Toronto Taylor & Francis Group 01-02-2013; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Caribbean; Citizens; Diplomacy; Dominican Republic; Europe; Foreigners; Government; Haiti; India; International relations before 1919; Justice; Morals; Occupations; U.S.A; United Kingdom; United States; West Indians; Dominican Republic; Haiti; United States > US
• ISSN: 0707-5332; 1949-6540
• DOI: 10.1080/07075332.2012.742446

This article investigates the experiences of third-country diplomats, private citizens, and subjects during U.S. occupations in the Caribbean, specifically in Haiti (1915-34) and the Dominican Republic (1916-24). It asks how their treatment by occupation forces and others might have affected the occupations and finds that they did so negatively. Although important differences marked the experiences of white Europeans - Germans, Spaniards, French, and British - members of all groups suffered in some ways from U.S. occupation and led many to grow disenchanted and even join in negative public denunciations. In the case of the French and British, this anti-occupation sentiment contradicted their governments' official stance. Non-whites and non-Europeans - Haitians in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Ricans, Syrians, and West Indians - were far greater in number and suffered largely because of their race. Even in the rare case where the metropole presented their case before Washington, non-white victims of abuse could not obtain justice. The overall frustrations of foreigners eventually turned many against U.S. occupations in the Caribbean.